Ignition of the Heart
by VanillaEmber
Summary: A spark can be the catalyst to any explosion. Who knew pink and yellow could portray the greatest firework of life? DeixSaku - Mature content.


Hello everyone, I'm VanillaEmber. :)  
>This is my first time ever writing a Naruto story, after months of being nudged by my imagination to do so, I finally picked up my laptop and got to quick work. This was inspired by a series of my own dreams and imagination, something I've loved to see in the fanfic world but have only gotten tastes of. :)<p>

To explain a little bit about myself since I've never written anything in the Naru world:  
>I've composed several stories before, all in the Vampire Knight world, two of them still in-progress due to some postponing with some real life issues. Recently I've made a decision about coming back to the fanfiction universe, so here I am. And also...I'm in love with reading and literature as well as animemanga. I hope you all enjoy this story, I will appreciate any feedback. I don't use a beta, I just try to proof-read everything myself before and after publishing, so I apologize if any spelling mistakes arise.

This is a DeidaraxSakura pairing story, rated M for content. Read at your own pleasure.

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><p><em>Chapter 1<em>

_That it is & nothing more._

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><p>Bright white flashed across the thick air of the heated sky.<p>

A whistle. A silence.

The dew-covered grass bristled against the heavy wind, painting green waves and clouded air against the landscape. The animals worked their way across the greenery, from tree to tree, from leaf to leaf.

In the distance, the disruptive sounds of explosions disturbed nature's flow.

As the noises flew throughout the area, so did the animals. Danger was ensuing, and they all knew very well to trust their instincts-

Escape.

The explosions grew closer and closer to the forest and as soon as they neared the lines of trees, a high-pitched whistle cut through the moment.

At that instant, a team of highly-skilled ninja crossed the meadow, aiming for the right source of the continuous explosions.

Too quick for sight, kunai flew and the battle began. With a deafening crack and a most violent roar, the former Iwa-nin conquered the field. Bodies tore and cracked, spraying the bright green field with dark shades of red.

This was his art. His destiny, his fullfilment.

The blonde grinned from above. He laid back on his wonderful clay bird admiring his work. It had been a good day so far- he'd lost Tobi on their mission path earlier that morning, and the hunter-nins that had been forging their way to the missing-nins weren't so top-notch.

He'd eluded them with a few explosions here and there, tearing through the lands of River Country in the span of a half hour. He steered his creation over the vast sky in amusement.

With the mission completed only a few days early, he could ease his way back to that ungrateful base he called home with time to spare. Which in his definition, meant a couple of detours and stops, and 'trying' to find Tobi.

Not that he cared about the little spunk anyway. He was undoubtedly sure that no matter how much intelligence the man lacked, he could care for himself as any other ninja would.

But for now, the only thought in his mind was one subject.

Bright blue open skies and creamy white clouds.

_-Wind-_

Footsteps thudded against the polished white floors, racing through the dull hallway.

Nurses and doctors yelled from left to right, up to down, and yes, pretty much all around. They skidded as they reached the corners, being careful with the patient on the stretcher.

The Hidden-Leaf Hospital was as busy as ever, medical ninjas running about and handling patients.

Sakura opened the door to her corresponding operating room before anyone could so much as open their mouths. She immediately began handing out orders in her military fashion.

She pointed to a group of nurses. "Scrub up! Have all the surgical equipment ready and prepare the pharmaceutical appliances," She helped the interns lift the body onto the operating bed and checked the man's wounds.

The intern next to her spurted out all the scratches, burns, and other injuries the man had within a few seconds as he handed Sakura the checklist.

Everything passed as a blur from there. Chakra pumped through the room as sterilized equpiment was passed from individual to individual, and in a matter of hours, it finally slowed until it reached a complete stop.

"Operation successful, great job everyone. Akira, inform the family of the good news. I'll be in Operation Theatre 4, make sure this room is cleaned and sterilized once more." Sakura ran through her usual script once more, making her way out of Operation room 12 and on the path to the wash room. She couldn't wait to finish her next operation. Tsunade had muttered something about a mission near Earth country the day before to her and she was undeniably delighted about a chance away from the hospital.

Everything had been running normally thankfully, but she wanted a break away from the sterile smell of the corridors and to venture out into the colorful, nature-smelling world they called outside.

She rinsed her hands as she finished loitering in the ladies' washroom. She pushed the heavy doors aside and walked back into the cold hallway of the Operations wing of the hospital. Her crisp white coat breezed behind her every step as she greeted the other med-nins. She loved this part of the hospital but after she came back from that promised mission she was going to stay watch over the Pediatrics wing for some time.

The operations took loads of energy from her, requiring a constant flow of chakra for hours on end. Nonetheless, it was very tiring, and even though she had grown used to it and could handle it amazingly well, she believed she deserved some lighter work for while. She knew Tsunade wouldn't object to it, Sakura had enough temper to challenge her beloved overseer and pull the daughter effect.

She smirked at the last thought before entering the 4th Theater of Operations.

Her smirk fell as she took in the gruesome sight before her, and quickly pulled on a pair of gloves. A grimace later, she was getting to work on the bloodiest patient she'd had that week.

And after that, she would be right on her way to see her beloved Hokage for her next mission.

_-Fire-_

_No._

_No no no no._

This could _not_ be happening to him.

"Can you seriously hurry up with that, I'm in a rush." The Akatsuki grunted at the bulky man. It was a lie, of course, but he just didn't feel like spending his day cramped up in the small shed-like building.

"Here," The man answered with a frown.

"Thanks idiot, keep up the great work." With that, he made his marvelous exit out of the suffocating room. He pulled out the contents of the brown paper bag and grinned deeply.

Dango.

Deidara slipped the delicious treats into his mouth one after one and savoured it. With a sigh of content, he continued his lonely path.

He kicked some dirt as he fumbled with the bag. He'd bought a seemingly unlimited supply of Dango. The craving had hit him as he was molding a small dove. His instincts had brought him to that little hut they called a shop to find his treasure.

The blonde froze in place as shivers ran down his spine.

_Tobi._

The little brat's chakra zoomed past him right then, as if he hadn't even felt Deidara. He blinked his eyes in confusion, surely thinking the brat was aiming for him and in turn the blonde would have his so-called vacation cut short. But why would he just head right past him?

He shrugged and took a seat on a branch under the covers of some thick trees. It was going to start raining soon and with no nearby Hotel but the ones in Ame and much north of him, he decided to just stake it out under thick branches and leaves with nothing but him, his clay and the paper bag.

What he wasn't expecting though, was the deafening sound of a crash-maybe lightning, he thought-and then quickly dispersed that thought as he felt the ground shaking.

_'An earthquake this close to Ame? Although then again...I am kind of close to Earth Country. But it's still pretty weird. And isn't that the direction Tobi went? Heh, I hope the little bastard got caught in that.'_

Deidara thought smuggly to himself as he reached into his side bags. He began working the soft clay in his hands, his favorite method of relaxation. He laid back against the hard wood and closed his eyes.

The pattering sounds of rain cleansed his thoughts. Oh, he'd never enjoyed a day this much in months.

_-Earth-_

_No no no no, fuck no! This cannot be happening!_

Another quake rocked the earth, shattering through miles of dirt, stone and grass.

_This is amazing. Of course this would happen._

The sarcasm dripped heavily, even in her thoughts. She swiveled around quick enough to swing her fist into the incoming force.

"You can really block a punch with your face eh!" She yelled as she brought her last opponent into a crevice she had created in the ground.

Sakura jumped back and examined the damage. Missing-nins could not be more annoying could they? It was such a hindrance. She was supposed to be on a regular espionage mission, not messing around and fighting some stupid ninjas who probably memorized her information in the bingo-books.

The last one she had hit was particularly a toughie, she bet he wasn't even dead, just unconcious for the time being. She couldn't really tell since his face was covered, but she didn't really care as long as she could get away from them.

She ran a few ways off the damage path, remembering a lonely building she had caught sight of on her way over. An hour later she managed to set foot on a legitamate path again.

She was just north of Amegakure, near Kusagakure and the border of Earth country. There had been some illicit events going on near the inside of Earth's border, so Tsunade had chosen Sakura for the simple mission.

The pinkette gripped her thick cloak closer to her body. The tell-tale signs of a storm had been making its way toward her location, and she definitely did not want to be caught in it. She took to the path near Grass Country, choosing a round-about and entering the forest through the eastern part.

The rain had already started hitting and once she entered she seeked the safety of thick branches that would cover her for enough time. She only had a few hours at most to reach her given coordinates, so she'd rest for a while to recover from the battle and wait out the storm.

She slowed down her run when she felt a chakra near. Sure enough, there was a person not too far away from her in a black cloak. When she got closer, her eyes widened.

"Kiba?"

_-Water-_

Deidara woke up from his daze when he felt unfamiliar chakra. He had masked his chakra before dozing off, so he knew it wasn't anyone headed purposefully in his direction. He quickly picked up his beongings and stashed them into his cloak. Whoever was there might not be looking for him, but being seen by someone who could possibly be a hunter-nin certainly wasn't on his to do list.

He landed softly on the moist ground and headed for the unkown chakra's direction. He sped through the damp forest, focusing solely on the sounds coming just north of him.

Suddenly, he felt two chakras instead of one. They were together he guessed. The blonde brushed aside his bangs as he focused his scope and jumped on a high branch. Looking closer he saw indeed two people, a male and a female. There was a dog next to the male too. He focused in more with his scope, hoping to catch a better glimpse, maybe he could identify them.

He saw the man point a bit left of Deidara's direction and said Akatsuki-nin took the chance to examine his headband. Konoha. He assumed the woman must have been from the same village, her head was a bit tilted so he couldn't exactly see her headband but it was pretty much the same.

_Pink hair..pink hair..._It rang a bell, he thought. He couldn't exactly place it though. He smoothed out his legs on the wide branch and shifted around in his cloak. He saw the two leaf nin converse for a few more minutes before they started saying goodbye, apparently. The man with the dog sped off to the west before he could even take it into account.

He turned to the pink haired girl. Her unique-colored hair was short and she wore a brown cloak with clothes he could not see, except for the long black boots on her legs. He bit his lip while looking at her; she was kind of cute, he chuckled. She seemed so familiar to him...

A kunai sped past his head as he ducked and flanked left of the big oak. She'd caught sight of him finally, and was on high alert. He dug his hands into his clay bags and began his favorite technique. He hadn't been at the Explosion Corps for nothing, he always surmised.

His hands chewed violently at the clay as the pinkette tried to capture his location. He swept up into the air just as the large oak crashed dangerously to the ground. Next to it, he saw that girl look up at him with a concentrated stare. His clay creations flashed their way towards her, exploding one by one as they caught up to her. She swung her arm and managed to push one of the birds into a tree, where it exploded and caught fire.

She hesitated to look away from the small fire; she wasn't one to love forest fires but nothing could be done about it currently.

_If only the guy would just get on the ground, annoying akatsuki..._

She grabbed a nearby tree and tore it out of its roots, took aim, and fired it straight at Deidara. He looked at the long tree crafting a path towards him and jumped off the bird, which the tree hut and caused some pretty violent-looking fireworks. He blurred into the scenery as she took cover from another flurry of explosives. Her left forearm was slashed from one of the projectiles and her blood splattered on the grass. As she turned around, she felt a strong force grip her shoulder and push her back into a splintered tree, her cloak smashed into dirt and blood.

Deidara gripped her wrists a jammed his right leg into hers to keep her from moving. He sucked in a flash of air as he recognized her.

"You're the one who killed Sasori-danna," He whispered. She blinked back in confusion before a bell ringed in her head.

"You were his partner, weren't you?" She questioned. He stared at her for a few more seconds with sheer wonder. How could this small woman defeat his danna?

Lightning cracked and sparked a few meters away, rain suddenly began pouring on them both. With the trees ripped apart from its home, it made space for the rain to blow up on them. Deidara looked up into the sky, soaking his face and reflecting the image in his blue eyes. Sakura stared at him and then looked up as well. It was dark and clouded, drops of gracious blue falling to her face.

Suddenly she felt her body pull forward and stop. When she looked back to the famous criminal, his look of determination took her by surprise.

"We're going to Earth, don't struggle. We need to find cover and get away from the damage." He tied her legs and wrists and picked her up before she could even register his words.

"Ooft," She grunted as he pressed her against his chest and tore off running. _'So this is the guy who killed Gaara..? Crap, I need to heal my arm before any infection sets in.'_

They reached a mountain range within a couple of hours and set camp inside one of the damp caves. He set Sakura down in one corner as he sat down across from her and studied her. She threw him a questionable look, waiting for him to say something.

He opened his mouth and quickly closed it, a look of concentration taking over his face.

"You should get some sleep-" He started

"So you can kill me?" The pinkette interrupted, earning herself an annoyed look from the Iwa-nin. He grunted before answering her.

"That fight was caused because we were both caught by surprise. I'm sure you don't want the hassle of playing captor and captee, so how about we call a truth for a while and then we'll both be on our way...I personally don't feel like dealing with you." He offered.

"So let me go right now." She fought back.

"...I'm not taking those chances right now. Do whatever you want but I'll only let you leave once the sun rises."

"I need to heal myself."

"Nice try. You think I'm slow? You can heal whatever it is you need to heal later, pinkie."

Sakura shot him her darkest look. She then relented and sighed. It was true, she didn't want to deal with this mess. And if he meant what he told her, she could be back on schedule before Tsunade could chug another bottle of sake.

With that, she dozed off, her low energy reserve waving a flag as she settled down. She'd still be on high alert, but she couldn't just stay awake all night with her wounds after two straight battles. If only she had gone to the dango shop with Kiba when he asked, maybe then she wouldn't be somewhere in Earth country like a fool.

Deidara watched as she slumbered off and grinned. Thank kami she hadn't asked him for food, he thought as he reached for the creased paper bag. He knew it was a childish habit, eating dango whenever he could, but he never could enjoy something like this with the pricks over at the base. They were deliciously sweet for him, he chanted.

After going through the unfortunately limited supply, he left three full sticks next to Sakura. He figured he could get more some other time, but he didn't want her complaining about an empty stomach later he concluded after much thought.

He sat back and dumped his hands into the sacks of clay at his side and began molding it. After a minutes passed, maybe an hour, he had created a swarm full of little white creatures. He loved his art, no matter what. He was proud of what he had done to be able to produce these fleeting creations, and no one would ever take it away from him.

He then looked at the girl in front of him. Sakura, was her name. Just like her namesake, she was undoubtedly pretty and, of course, pink. He wondered if she had any interesting thoughts about art. Whether she preferred long-lasting art, like danna, or fleeting art. Or just some basic elementary arts if she was even taught any.

It was all just matters of the heart, he concluded.

_All just matters of the heart._

_-Blood-_

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><p>End.<p>

Of the first chapter, of course. :)

Any and all reviews are welcome. No flaming please, if you didn't like it just wave goodbye.

I hope you all enjoyed this, I will try to update as often I can.

See you all soon,  
>-VanillaEmber<p> 


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